morning ramblin'

I have a few minutes before my  next thing, so I thought I'd try to write for a second.  I don't have anything in particular to write about - so, let's' start with the girls.

Elizabeth is getting to be less and less of the baby everyday.  Her increasing toddler-ness is ever present.  Her vocabulary expands constantly, she can do things on her own increasingly often, her hair even fit into a ponytail this week.  :)  She's just getting to be so big.

She's a really funny child.  She's always trying to make us laugh and usually has Abby in a fit of giggles over something or another.  She's also far more stubborn than Abby was at this age - at least according to my memory.  This is the age where she is learning that sometimes the answer is "no" even after you ask for something so nicely and say please so sweetly.  She's not very good at handling those rejections yet. Typically she pouts, sometimes she stomps and crosses her arms, sometimes she melts down.  Luckily, redirection isn't usually too difficult - but I'll be happy when this overly dramatic response to the smallest slights phase is past us.

E is still really into her trucks - she got lots of transportation toys for Christmas and she plays with them most often.  Every night she asks to sleep with her truck book, but we've managed to keep them on the shelf for now.

Now that she is *finally* getting over her cold/cough - E's appetite is back.  She's a great eater most of the time.  She's learned to get out of her high chair pretty easily since we took of the tray attachment and just pushed her up to the table...but we're working on it.  Usually the threat of a time-out for standing in her chair or crawling out is enough to keep her in it.  If she does get a time out - she responds well.  Knock on wood, she's never tried to get out of the corner...it's a matter of time, I know - but for now - I'm happy that the time outs are enough discipline for her.

Of course, the thing E loves more than anything in the world is Abby.  She calls her Babby.  And I'm pretty sure the feeling is mutual.  E will follow Abby anywhere - but a lot of the time, E is the one to instigate the game or activity with Abby. E has always been more assertive and physical than Abby was at the same ages.  Watching them play together is the best thing in the world.  I can't think of anything better. And Abby is so good with Elizabeth - she loves teaching her things and showing her things.  This morning, while they were brushing teeth, I heard this exchange:

Abs: "Hey E, can you say Battery?"
E: "Baary"
Abs: "try again.  Bat-er-ee"
E: "Batty"
Abs: "How about we try it in Spanish.  Can you say Battery in Spanish?"
E: "Barry n spash"
Abs: "Great job!"

The conversations they carry on amuse me to no end.  We told the girls a few weeks ago about how they would be sharing a room once the new baby came - Abby was very excited about the idea.  She instantly went on and on about how they would stay up all night talking and talking.  I have no doubt they will.

In baby news - I had another ultrasound yesterday to double check for spine and heart abnormalities.  The doc said everything looked great.  So, I don't have to go all the way to Children's now to get the fetal ECG done.  And I'm just fine with that.  I'll still get monthly ultrasounds to check growth due to the 2-vessle cord, and they'll continue to keep a special eye on the heart and spine just to make sure things continue to look good - but I'm not worried about it in the least.  Yesterday's scans were kinda fun because I could see the baby jumping around on the screen AND feel it at the same time.  Pretty cool.

The gender-envelope is still un-opened, but I still plan on opening it at some point.  Just gotta convince Kyle that we should and figure out how and when.  I think the idea of accidentally finding out again (they accidentally told me E's gender at 38 weeks) is one reason I'm so motivated to find out the gender this time.  It's less of finding out if it's a boy or a girl and more of - I want to find out on my own terms. I told Kyle that if they slip and tell me again on accident before I open that envelope - that he loses all rights to opinions from here on out.  ;)

All righty - time to get back to work.  I'm so glad it's Friday and there's a 3-day weekend ahead of me.  So. glad.